


Grounds For Interest

by fairietailed



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 19:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairietailed/pseuds/fairietailed
Summary: The grounds guy is wearing a white shirt and blue jeans and work boots and is sweaty and disgusting and Andrew wants him out of his school immediately.--In which Neil works on the school grounds and Andrew is Suffering.





	Grounds For Interest

**Author's Note:**

> Written for TheBashfulPoet for the AFTGExchange! I went with your pining!Andrew prompt, I hope that it's okay!❤️

Four weeks and two days after seeing him for the first time, Andrew still has no idea what the new groundskeeper's name is.

Andrew has been at Palmetto Middle School for two and a half years. He has been teaching for almost four. He knows the schedule of the groundskeepers by heart. He knows each of their names. He knows Justin and Garrett and Ken.

But he doesn’t know this new guy. This new guy that looks the same age as Andrew, with bright red hair and the bluest eyes Andrew has ever seen and scars that are a lot more interesting than they are intimidating.

He comes to the school on Mondays, Thursdays, and every other Tuesday. 

Mondays are grounds days. The man cuts the grass on that stupid giant driveable monster of a lawnmower, uses the weedwhacker to trim the edges (which always makes Kerry cry), and then uses the leaf blower to clear it all off the sidewalk (which makes Kerry cry even harder).

Andrew loathes Mondays.

Thursdays are hedge days. The man trims them. It doesn't take long, since the school doesn't have a ridiculous amount of hedges. And the clippers are silent, which the kids (plus Andrew and the paraprofessionals) are grateful for.

And every other Tuesday...

Andrew honestly doesn't know  _ what _ he does those days.

That bothers him.

It’s why he finds himself in the front office now, casually leaning on Nicky's desk in an attempt to get information out of him without being too obvious about it. Luckily for Andrew, Nicky likes to gossip.

"So," Andrew says slowly, arms crossed across his chest as he looks at Nicky over the computer monitor between them. "That new grounds guy-" 

"Who, Neil?" Nicky asks, stuffing an envelope with some documents and sealing it shut, sticking a sharpie cap in his mouth, pulling the pen out to write "DRAMA CLUB FIELD TRIP" on the front in all capital letters. "Tara, sweetie, run this to room 37, please? Ms. Lopez wants the field trip forms by tomorrow."

The office aide practically scrambles out of her seat to race out the door, grateful for something to do. Andrew watches her go, waiting until the door slides shut behind her to turn back to his cousin.

"Yeah, him," he continues. "What does he do on Tuesdays?" 

Nicky looks up at him, eyebrows pulled together in a confused gesture. "How should I know?" 

Andrew raises an eyebrow of his own. "Nicky, you're the Office B Clerk. You work under admin. You are one of the three clerks that work on the classified employee's schedules and payroll. You  _ should _ know."

"Oh," Nicky says, as if remembering. "Duh. Right. Uh," he shuffles through some of the papers on his desk, looking for the grounds schedule and humming as he scrolls down the list. "Nothing. He's not on Tuesday's schedule." 

"But he's here every other Tuesday."

"Doing what?" 

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." 

"You're in SpEd, how do you know this?" 

"Because we take our children outside, Nicky. They aren't confined to the classroom. And I see him... Out. On campus."

Nicky's eyebrows go from furrowed and confused to raised and intrigued, and Andrew knows he's fucked up. 

"Oh," he says. " _ Oh _ . You're  _ interested. _ "

"I never said that." 

"You didn't have to." 

"Nicky-" 

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Nicky cuts him off as the phone on his desk rings, and he beams up at Andrew, hand poised to answer it. "It's Monday. You know he's here."

Nicky answers the phone, and Andrew leaves the office, his lunch break now ten minutes shorter.

* * *

Working in Special Ed is its own adventure.

The children are great until they're not. Days are fun until they're terrible. His coworkers are tolerable until they're completely useless.

And right now, as Jay bolts from the classroom because he doesn't feel like doing math while everyone watches him go without moving, Andrew is ready to strangle them.

"No, really," he says, voice dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a small ocean. "Don't get up. It's fine. Let him run off on his own." 

"You want us to run after him?"

Andrew gives the new girl a flat look, and she sighs as she stands.

"I thought we weren't supposed to chase the kids. Something about them thinking it's a game if you do?" 

"Yeah, you're not supposed to chase them." It's Robin who answers from her place across the room at her station's table. Robin, Andrew's saving grace and only competent aide this year. "You don't need to chase them, but you very much _do_ need to follow them at a reasonable distance calmly and casually in order to make sure they are _safe_. Or do you need to go through the crash course training again?"

The new girl - Amy, maybe? Ari? Something with an A. Andrew should really learn her name considering they've been in school for a month now - sighs again, heading out the door to hunt down Jay.

“Tell me you can get Wymack to hire someone else.”

“He said to give her until the end of the year,” Andrew says, and Robin rolls her eyes as she finishes helping Callie spell out her name on the paper in front of her. “I give her three months before she quits.”

“Bet she won’t even make it two.”

“You’re on.”

Amy, Andy, Ari, whatever her name is comes back into the classroom fifteen minutes later with Jay at her side, red-faced and frustrated, and Andrew raises an eyebrow at a shrugging Robin.

“Two months.”

“Whatever,” Robin says. “Callie needs to use the restroom.”

Andrew nods, heading over to the classroom door and backing into it until it opens, telling the kids to line up for restroom breaks.

They’re outside for less than five minutes before the groundskeeper makes an appearance.

He’s marching across the field by the classroom with a weed whacker slung over his shoulder, heading for the large garage that’s attached to the front office where the maintenance supplies are stored.He’s wearing a white shirt and blue jeans and work boots and is sweaty and disgusting and Andrew wants him out of his school immediately.

“Staring,” Robin says from behind him, and Andrew scoffs.

“I just hate him and his stupid weed whacker,” he says, and Robin lets out a laugh.

She watches Andrew for a long moment before a large grin spreads across her face and, for the second time in one day, Andrew knows he’s fucked up.

Robin turns to look across the grass, cups her hands around her mouth, and shouts: “hey, yo, NEIL!”

Neil whips around almost immediately, and Robin waves at him so hard Andrew thinks her arm might pop right out of its socket. Neil waves back, somewhat hesitantly, and Robin waves him over. 

“Come here!” She calls, and Neil turns to look back at the office for a moment before hiking his weed whacker a bit higher over his shoulder and striding across the green.

“What the fuck are you doing,” Andrew mutters to Robin, who grins at Andrew shamelessly.

“Helping you out.”

“I swear to God, Robin, I will end your-”

“Neil! Hello! Hi! I’m Robin.”

Andrew glares at Robin, whose arm is extended out to a confused looking Neil.

“Hi,” he says, and reaches out his own hand to grasp Robin’s. After a brief shake, she nods in Andrew’s direction.

“This is Andrew. We work in 45.” She jabs a finger at the classroom behind them. “Just wanted to introduce ourselves! We’ve seen you around, and we just wanted to say hi and ask what’s up.”

Neil raises an eyebrow. “Uh, maintenance stuff mostly. Yard work. Mondays, and all that.”

“Oh yeah,” Robin says, keeping an eye on a few of the kids as they play a make-shift game of tag in the grass behind them. “Kerry hates Mondays. Always makes her cry.”

Neil’s eyes widen. “Oh, oh man. Is there anything I can do?”

“Not unless you leave,” Andrew says, deadpan, and Robin snorts beside him.

“He means no,” she says, and the corner of Neil’s lips twitch upward as he looks at Andrew. “Kerry just hates the noise. It freaks her out, the sound of the weed whacker and leaf blower.”

Neil seems to think on this for a minute, and then he looks at Andrew, tilting his head and nodding toward the maintenance garage. “I could bring the leaf blower by later, if you want,” he says. “Maybe show her how it works. It could just be the fact that she doesn’t know what it is, you know? If you think that might help.”

Something in Andrew’s chest tightens. He nods, once, and so does Neil.

Neil smiles. “I’ll head over in about an hour, then? I’m going on lunch in a minute. But I can swing by the classroom after.”

“Oh, sorry if I stopped you from going on break!” Robin makes a shooing motion at Neil, who looks vaguely amused. “Go on, get. Take your lunch.”

Neil lets out a laugh, and Andrew has to resist the urge to scream.

“I’ll be by in an hour,” Neil says, and Andrew practically runs into the classroom along with the kids. 

* * *

Neil does, in fact, come by an hour later, and proceeds to spend ten minutes fielding questions and letting the children touch the leaf blower and didn’t even get offended when Kerry cried a little bit when she thought he might turn it on inside. In fact, he looked a bit happy, smiling and laughing, and Andrew kind of wants to put his head through the wall the entire time.

Once he’s finished, Andrew walks him to the door while Robin sets up a dance video on the smartboard.

“I hope that helped,” Neil says, still grinning, and Andrew grips the door so hard his knuckles turn white.

“I’m sure it did,” he says. Neil nods, once, and turns to leave. Andrew clears his throat. “Wait.”

Neil does, pausing just outside the door.

“What do you do on Tuesdays?”

Neil raises an eyebrow. Andrew clears his throat again.

“You’re here Mondays and Thursdays and every other Tuesday. So why are you here on Tuesdays?”

The corners of Neil’s lips twitch again, like his smile wants to stretch a bit wider but he’s resisting the urge.

“Matt,” he says, shrugging. He adjusts the leaf blower in his grip. “They need someone on the security shift every other Tuesday. So I sub in for the position and help out a bit.”

“Security.” He doesn’t phrase it like a question.

Neil taps the side of his face. “The scars help with the intimidation factor. They think I’m a part of the mob.”

Andrew lets out a scoff, and Neil’s nose crinkles a bit. Andrew thinks if he grips the handle of the door any more it might just break.

“It’s amazing you passed the background check.”

“Those mob connections have to come in handy somehow, don’t they?”

Andrew almost smiles.

“I guess we’ll be seeing you around a bit then,” he says, and Neil nods. He’s still smiling.

“I guess so.” He flicks a look over Andrew’s shoulder. “Maybe I can come by every now and then. Just to say hi to the kids, you know?”

Andrew’s stomach flips.

“Do what you want,” he says, refusing to meet Neil’s eyes, and he doesn’t miss the way Neil smiles.

“I’m here until 1:45 officially,” he says. “But I could be inclined to stay if you need a bit of help today.”

Andrew looks back at Robin, who’s dancing in the front of the room with the kids, and then at a bored-looking Amy/Andy/Ari sitting in the corner, looking ready to quit on the spot.

“If you don’t mind arts and crafts that use a bunch of glitter, then be my guest.” 

* * *

Neil comes back when his shift ends, and proceeds to make a mess of the glitter and Andrew’s emotions.

Andrew hates him, but he gives him his number and asks him to dinner anyway.

Neil accepts.


End file.
